The most important aspect of this conversation I’ll save until the end. I’d rather start with this: The most important skill a leadoff hitter needs to possess is an ability to get on base (OBP) at a relatively high rate. Every other skill that you might find desirous in a leadoff hitter comes in a … Continue reading When Hicks Plays, He Needs to Leadoff
Month: June 2022
Yankees vs. Rays: Gerrit Cole vs. Corey Kluber
Tonight the Yankees begin the toughest part of their 2022 schedule to date (it may turn out to be the toughest 13-game stretch of the season) when they take on their division rivals from the Sunshine State. Beginning tonight, the Yankees’ next 13 games are against the Rays, the Blue Jays, and the Astros – … Continue reading Yankees vs. Rays: Gerrit Cole vs. Corey Kluber
Yankees vs. Cubs Series Preview:
The Cubbies are in the Bronx for the first time in eight years tonight for a three-game weekend series with the Yanks. Here’s what you need to know, along with some things you may have forgotten… The bottom line is that Cubs are a tick below an average team. They’re currently 23-33, 8.5 games behind … Continue reading Yankees vs. Cubs Series Preview:
Out of Left Field: Minnesota Series
Out of left field is an occasional post about matters that don’t require 1,200 words of analysis, but should be addressed anyway. In no particular order: Juiced balls again? Now that MLB has admitted that the baseballs used in games are varied and change more often than we realized, I couldn’t help but notice some … Continue reading Out of Left Field: Minnesota Series
Yankees – Twins Series Preview
Tonight the Yankees start a three-game series in the North Star state against the AL Central-leading Twins. It’s an intriguing matchup on paper as the Twins are an interesting team in several regards. For starters, they’ve taken a hit from the injury bug as two of their better position players (Carlos Correa and Miguel Sanó) … Continue reading Yankees – Twins Series Preview
Let’s Talk Andújar…
I don’t take pleasure in saying I told you so, but after the 2018 season, I’m the guy who said Miguel Andújar needed to be traded, despite his 130 OPS+, 47 double rookie season. His future was clearly not going to be at third base which would decrease the value of his bat, and he … Continue reading Let’s Talk Andújar…
Let’s Talk Joe Girardi
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Phillies fired their manager on Friday, which drew some attention in Yankees Universe because it was former Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Let’s dig a little deeper into Joe’s managerial history and see if we can learn anything from all this, beyond the obvious “hot takes”. To properly … Continue reading Let’s Talk Joe Girardi
Yankees vs. Tigers: Gerrit Cole vs. Elvin Rodríguez
Game one of the three-game series between the Yanks and the Detroit Tigers will be underway in a little while. But we have to answer a question first: Who is Elvin Rodríguez? Rodríguez is a 24-year-old rookie right-hander who’ll be making his 3rd career big league start tonight, against the Bronx Bombers. Rodríguez has thrown … Continue reading Yankees vs. Tigers: Gerrit Cole vs. Elvin Rodríguez
NYY: Angels review, Detroit Preview
If you missed the three-game series with the Angels, here’s the short version: The Yankees played very well, and the Angels didn’t so it was a three-game sweep. But if you want a little more detail… The story of the series (again) was the Yankees pitching. Los Angeles came into the series fourth in MLB … Continue reading NYY: Angels review, Detroit Preview
